Hinge



July 8, 1.941. A, MAY

HINGE; Filed Jan. 1i, 1959 Patented July 8, 1941 HINGE Carl A. May, Akron, Ohio, assigner to. The First Central Trust' Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of' Ohio, as trustee Application `lanuary 11, 1939-, Serial No. 250,341

1 Claim.

This invention relates to adjustable hinges and is, an improvement of the hinge described in my co-pending application Serial' No. 209,271.

Hinges heretofore known of an adjustable type are expensive and are limited to a narrow range of adjustment while the adjustment requires painstaking care and involves a great amount of time and skill to suspend a door at a desired position in a door frame.

The general objects of the present invention are to obviate such faults and to reduce the cost of such hinges. These objects are accomplished specifically by providing a hinge with a pair of hinge leaves having intertting knuckles, said knuckles being so formed and proportioned as to permit limited relative movement of the leaf supporting a door in all directions for the purpose of suspending doors in their frames'at the position which permits the door to swing on its hinges freely and in the event, a door becomes bound against its frame due to sagging or swelling of the frame or the door or other causes the door may be easily repositioned in its frame by a simple adjustment of hinge, the inner knuckle of the hinge having adjustable rotatable adapters in opposite edges formed with hemispherical sockets or bearing seats, one or more of such sockets or bearing seats in said adjustable adapters being formed non-concentric with the said adapter, a pair of smooth surfaced balls disposed in said sockets or bearing seats and serving with said adapters to register the hinge knuckles, adjustable screws connecting said ballsy said adjustable screws having their inner ends formed with hemispherical sockets or bearing seats, said adjustable screws serving to snugly engage said balls in opposition to said bearing seats.

Of the accompanying drawing: l

Figure 1 is an elevation of a hinge embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View of the same on a larger scale;

Figure 3 is a detail View of one end of the eccentric adapter;

Figure 4 is a similar view of the other end oi' said adapter;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of said adapter. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the novel hinge there shown comprises a pair of relatively flat leaves I0 and II which are pivotally connected together, said leaves being provided with apertures I2 for accommodation of bolts or screws whereby they may be secured to the door and door frame respectively. The

leaf IB is integrally formed with a knuckle I4 which is adapted to be straddled by knuckles l5 and i6' of the leaf II. A round opening II extends through knuckle I4 in the opposite ends of whichare adapters IB and Ilia. These adapters I8 and Ia have enlarged heads as I9 and I 9a which are of a substantially larger diameter than the opening IT. The body portion as 20 of the adapters i8' and Illa., respectively, is round and of a diameter to t snugly into the opening I1 of the knuckle I4' so that the adapter will not rattle against the sides of the opening I1, however, the lit is sufliciently loose to permit the turningl and movement of the said adapter in the saidr hole for the purpose of adjustment which will be discussed in detail hereinafter. The underneath portions. of heads o1" the adapter I8 and ISa, have radial notches or serrations 30 and Sila respectively which arey designed to cooperate with similar radial notches or serrations 3l andy Ela formed on the edges of the knuckle i4 against whichv the heads I9 and 49a of the adapter i8 and Ia seat. As is clearly shown in Fig.. 2, the space between the knuckles l5 and lli is greater than the width of the knuckle I4 plus the thickness of the adapter heads i9 and iSd, and as a result there is a certain amount of clearance between the said adapter heads and the knuckle I4. This clearance makes possible the adjustable connection between the knuckles as will be explained.

The upper and lower adapter IB and I8a respectively are formed with non-concentric hemispherical recesses or sockets 32 and 32a for seating steel bearing balls 33. These balls are held in their place by recessed ends of set-screws 34 and 34a, which are screwed into aligned openings in the knuckles I5 and IB. By reason of the previously mentioned clearance between the knuckles, it will be evident that by axially adjusting the set-screws 34 and 34a, the relation between the leaves I0 and II may be Varied along the axis of the set-screws 34 to compensate for inaccuracies or inequalities in the door mounting. Also by reason of the recesses or sockets 32 and 32a being non-concentric and the adapter I8 and 18a being capable of being turned to different positions in the opening II it will be seen that the sockets 32 and 32a may be aligned on a line parallel with the axis of the set-screws 34 or by turning the adapter I8 so that the socket 32 is to its extreme limit of range to one side of the opening l'l and by turning the adapter Illa so that the socket 32a,` is to its extreme limit of range to the opposite side of the opening I'I from that to which the socket 32 has been turned that the leaf I3 will be thrown or tilted to a substantial degree from its former position. It will also be seen that the adapters I8 and IBa may be turned to various positions in order to modify the tilt of the leaf IG, which is the leaf that carries a door, in order to t the door to its frame. It will now be seen that the door may be moved up or down in its frame by adjusting the set-screws 34 and 34a as for example, by backing away set-screw 34 and running in set-screw 34a, when the socket 32 and 32a are aligned with the axis of the set-screws 34 and 34a.. It will also be seen that by keeping the sockets 32 and 320J aligned with the axis of the set-screws 34 and 34a and by turning the adapter I8 and- Ia together in the opening II so as to not destroy the alignment that the leaf IIl may be moved to one side and outwardly from the leaf II Without tilting and also as shown above by selecting positions for the adapter I8 and Ia which throws the sockets 32 and 32a out of alignment with the axis of the set-screws 34 and 34a. that the door may be tilted. Because the adapters I8 and I8a are formed With flat heads of a diameter greater than the diameter of the opening I'I it is obvious that the sockets 32 and 32a. travel in a wider arc than could be the case if the said heads were the same or less diameter than that of the opening I'I. 'I'his feature is important in that it substantially increases the range of adjustment of the door to its frame. The adapter I8 and Ia are held from turning from their selected position when the door is opened or shut due to the radial notches or serrations 3U and 30a interlocking with the radial notches or serrations SI and 3Ia respectively.

It will now be evident that this invention has provided an adjustable hinge that is capable by adjustment to move a door supported by it a substantial distance in any direction. For ornamentation cap-nuts 35 and 36 may be used or if found desirable a combination cap and locknut may be used for 35 and 36.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a preferred form, it will be apparent that different changes will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention which is to be limited, therefore, only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A hinge of the class described comprising a pair of hinge leaves, a pair of relatively spaced knuckles associated with one of said leaves, an intermediate knuckle associated with the other of said leaves, said intermediate knuckle having its opposite edges formed with axially aligned holes therein, and radial serrations extending from the edges of said holes, a pair of adapters adjustably mounted in said intermediate knuckle, said adapters being each formed with a body portion extending into one of said holes and an outer flange portion on the under side of which are formed radial serrations adapted to cooperate with the said radial serrations extending from the edges of the axially aligned holes in said intermediate knuckle to prevent said adapters from turning in said holes, said outer flange portions having formed therein a hemispherical socket constituting a bearing seat, the combined width of said flange portions and intermediate knuckle being sufliciently less than the distance between the two spaced knuckles to permit a substantial tilting movement of the intermediate knuckle and the said flange portions between the said relatively spaced knuckles, a pair of smooth surfaced balls disposed in said sockets for pivotally connecting the knuckles, adjustment screws contacting said balls, said adjustment screws serving to snugly engage said balls in opposition to said bearing seats and being adapted to be adjusted to move the assembled said intermediate knuckle and adapters between said pair of relatively spaced knuckles along a line parallel with the axis of said adjustment screws whereby taken in conjunction with the said adjustably mounted adapters a door supported by said hinge may be moved in any direction to facilitate the hanging of the door.

CARL A. MAY. 

